Dam.



C. E. FOWLER.

DAM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I9. |916. L. f Patented 131115,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

C. E. FOWLER.

DAM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.19.1916

Patented Jan. 15, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

CHARLES EVAN FOWLER, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

DAM.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, CHARLES EvAN FowLnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of lVashington, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Dams, of which the following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to improvements in dams. The object of the invention is the provision of an apron of simple and novel construction to receive the overflow from vthe crest of the dam, and divert it from the base of the dam in such manner that the foundations will not be undermined or weakened through washing away of the supporting earth.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a dam formed with a tower formed of reinforced concrete construction containing an intake well and standpipe arranged and combined in a novel and advantageous manner, together with other objects as will appear in the following specification.

Inthe accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical cross-sectional View substantially on line 1 1 of Fig. 3 of a dam einbodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation looking upstream, of a portion of a dam such as is illustrated in Fig. 1, parts of which are shown in section.

Fig. 3 is a top planl view of a portion of the dam illustrated in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal crosssectional view taken through the upper portion of the intake-well structure.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view illustrating a detail of the construction.

Referring to said views, the reference numeral 1 designates the deck of a dam consisting in a slab of reinforced concrete inclined away from the pressure of the water impounded and supported upon foundations 2 and parallel spaced buttress piers 3.

The spaces 5 between said piers extending beneath the slab 1 are open from the downstream side of the dam and they are connected together by openings 7 formed in said piers.

The mid-stream portion of said dam is formed with an overflow crest 10 and immediately below said crest and spaced therefrom in integral concrete formation with the foundations and said buttresses of the dam, is an apron, indicated generally by the nu- Specication of `Letters Patent.

Application filed September 19, 1916.

Patented Jan. 15, 1918.

Serial No. 121,011.

meral l1, and consisting specifically in a portion 12 inclined down-stream and extending forwardly, as at 13, into said spaces 5 and toward the deck 1 of' the'dam intermediate said buttresses and terminating beyond a vertical plane extending through said crest 10.

The lower part of said incline 12 of the apron is adapted to receive and divert away from the dam the water overflowing said crest, and beyond said inclined portion said apron is continued integrally for av distance, as at 15, to carry said overflow water well beyond the foundations of the dam proper if:

andV therebeyond a stone surface may be einployed, as indicated at 16, to prevent the washing away of the earth.

The openings 7 extend downwardly to the ground level behind said apron l1, as indicated at 8, and provide for the drainage of any water that may enter behind the dam above the ground to flow through said openings to the lowermost portion of the ground where a drain-pipe 17 formed of concrete is provided to carry it away.

Associated with said dam and integrally connected therewith in reinforced concrete construction, is a vertically arranged tower, indicated generally by the numeral 20, of rectangular configuration in cross-section. The lower end of said tower is connected with the lower forward end of the dam-deck while access is had to the upper end of the tower from the approach 21 along the upper extremity of the dam by means of a bridge 22.

Said tower is divided by a horizontally arranged floor slab 23 alfording thereabove a gate house 25 and therebelow a series of compartments to be` hereinafter described. Said gate house extends beyond the side wall 26 of the tower, as at Q7, so that the intake valve controlling devices 28 are arranged directly over the intake valves 30.

Interiorly of said tower is a vertically arranged intake chamber or well 81, with which communication is made from the water reservoir through openings 32 in the side wall 26 of the tower which openings are controlled by said valves 30.

Partitioned from said intake well by screens 33 is another chamber 35 from which communicative connections are made with a stand-pipe 36 through openings 37 arranged at dierent elevations and' controlled by valves 3S operable through rods 10 by controlling mechanism 41 located in the gate house. Said stand-pipe is desirably ofV rec-- tangular configuration positioned in one corner of said tower. It is constructed integrally with said tower of concrete, and provided. with an outlet or main-pipe 42I in proximity of its bottom. y

Provision is made to drain the reservoir through the lowermost of the openings 32 and37 through the main-pipe 42, but to enable practically vall of the water to be drained from the front of the dam, a sluice pipe 43 is provided underlying the dam and apron 11, which has an intake opening 45 in front of the dam at or `near the lower-most level of the earth line in front ofV the dam. Thus the reservoir may be fiushed and sediment cleaned from the bottom thereof when desired. A gate-valve arranged to control the opening of said sluice-pipe 4,3, indicated generally by the numeral 46, is provided andillustrated in Fig. 5.

A dam built in accordance with my invention with respect to the apron which is adapted to receivev theV water overflow, has the advantage of cheapness of construction, accessibility of its parts to inspection, and increased efficiency in breaking the fall of the water and diverting the same from the base of the dam. y

Y With respect to the combined tower and standpipe features of my invention, it has obvious advantages of a self-contained homogeneous construction thatv is of great utility in A first cost of construction and economy in operation.

What I claim as my invention 1s*- 1. In a concrete dam formed with'an inclined deck supported upon spaced parallel piers and having an overflow crest affording Copies of this patent may be obtained for with thel forward end thereof spaced from said inclined deck, spaced from the ground line of the piers, and inclined reversely to the deck to prevent back flow of water overowing the dam crest; Y

2. In a concrete dam formed with an inclined deck supported upon spaced' parallel piers and having an. overiow crest affording a spillway for surplus water, and an apron formed integrally with said dam and spaced apart' from said crest, said apron projecting below said deck between said piers beyond a vertical line extended throughl saidV crest and having' its. upper portion inclined in opposite direction to said deck, theend of the apron extending between thel inclined deck being at a higher elevation than the forwardly pro]- ecting end thereof to prevent back flow 'of water overiowing' the'daln'.

3. A dam formed with.Y an inclined deck having an loverflow crest affording a spillwayv for surplus water, andan apron positioned below said crest to' receive said overflow water, said apron' being spaced' apart' i below said crest andl projecting forwardly beyond a vertical line extending through said crest and rearwardly beyondthe Yfoundation of the dam.v K Y Signed at Seattle, Vash., this 30th day of August, 1916. I

errantes EVAN FowLER.

Witnesses E. PETERSON, PIERRE BARNES.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of lat'ents,

Washington, D. C." 

